Box



y 1945' Q R. v. BURDICK 2,379,679

.BOX

Filed March 27, 1943 4 T TOR/V5 Y Patented July 3, 1945 H ITEDS E Box ranny. numick, Loudonville, N. Y.

. Application March 27,1943, Serial No.*4i!0,861

. invention relatestoxboxes,and+particularly to "boxes made from sheet metal such as tin plate, ,black iron and the like and which are usedas containers-for shoe polish, :waxes, ointments, etc. .Moreparticularly ityrelates to improvements in 2 Claims. (01. 220-43) qairtight boxes of .the type disclosedin my copending. application SerialNo. 431,361.. 1

11. .Boxesmhich are used as containers for shoe polish and other'compositions having volatile constituents must base-designed as to maintain an air tight fit betweenthe cover andthe body ,of the container. The fact that such an airtight ,flt is-requiredmakes it very diificultto remove the cover from a box. of the ordinary type, and the boxes now extensively used for shoe polish are for the .most part so designed that the cover.

. can be pried off witha coin orby means of alever which is .pivotally securedto thebox. Obviously,

a boxfrom which the cover can be easily removed;

.merely by pressure exerted on a; certain zone .thereof either by the foot or the hand, and which L he a eti is s an i a ti h a .willremain air tight. irrespective of the number .pfftimes the cover is removed and replaced would represent a substantial advance in the art. H

In my copending application aforesaid I, have disclosed a box in which the container portion is provided around the open end thereof with an expanded zone of rather substantial depth the outside surfaceof which,"in cross section, is curvilinear and preferably circular. Inother words, r, ,1

this expanded Qportion; approximates the equa-. torial zone of a sphere, and the cover, or that portion thereof which forms the contact with this expanded portion, is cylindrical and) tangent thereto when the box is closed; The fact that the V assembly may be considered essentially as a 0571- inder tangentto a portion of a sphere makes it {clear that the cover"maybe"presseddownon one side and substantially.raisedonthel other and still remain tangent to the expanded portion of the container. Thus, in ahQXyWhichflS in-" tended to be opened by a cover-tilting pressure exerted on one edge thereof, considerable j rela tivemovement of the cover and box can be effectedin the zone of pressure and in a zone l80 therefrom while the cylinder still remainstangent to the sphere. In other words pressure on the side of. the cover does not immediately release it from the container. Thisis not a very serious advantage but pointalong the top edge of the cover will cause the opposite side thereof substantially immediate- 1y topop upand.thus render the cover immediit wouldbe desirable to have a box of such design that pressure exerted at one ately free from the container.

ing slight wavelike crests andhollowsaround the entire periphery of the expanded portion.

There is a stillfurther difficulty which" is inherent in the manufactureof all metal boxes which are drawn-by meansof dies and which is due to slight variations in the thickness of the sheet metal which is supplied to the box manufacturer. It is not uncommon to produce from the same set of dies boxes and'covers which vary considerably inthe wayin which they fit together. Some covers are loose and. others "are tight. As containers for compositions formed wholly of non-volatile constituents this is not a very serious objection but in the case of containers for shoe polish and the like abox on whichthe cover does not form an air tight-fitis substari said but all of them havesome inherent defect which makes them difficult to open, or in which an air tight fit betweenthe cover and boxis impossible to attain or, if initially attained, is

impossible to maintain after the; box has been opened one or more times. The metal from which such boxes are manufactured isof relatively thin gauge, usually from 0.010" to 0.011" inthickness, and boxes drawn therefrom according 17011618- tofore proposed designs and particularly the covers thereof are easily distorted. Since, in any case, a rather substantial pressure is required to dislodge the cover, most cover designs flex or bendso that after .theyhave oncebeen removed from the box it is impossible thereafter for the cover to form an air tight fit with the container.

. The general object of my invention is to provide an easy-opening containerof; sueh design that the foregoing defects are eliminated. More specifically,.one of the objects of my invention is to provide an easy-opening metal box of such design that it will bepractically air tight and will remain air. tight substantially irrespective of the number of times it is openedand closed. Another object is to provide a IbQX of such design that when pressure is applied to a certain edge Zone of the cover the opposite edge will 'abruptlypop up without any drag between the cover and the contact. A further object is to provide a box of such design that variations in gauge of the metal which wardlr, esthown at 3.; KQ eh ordinarily produce loose and tight fitting covers may be readily compensated for so that all covers fit uniformly tight.

With these objects in view my invention includes the novel elements and combinations and arrangements thereof described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a plan view of my box;

2,379,679 b l i Fig. 2 is, a section'of Fig. 1 in the plane 2-2 in.Which the'thickness of the metal has been exaggerated; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section of avcontainer portion, similar to a portion of the section shown in Fig. 2, but illustrating a slight modification in design,

Referring to the drawing, my boxcompi'ises" a round or generally cylindrical portio'njwhichris tween the cover and the container both above and below the bead 4. By this construction it will be apparent that when downward pressure is applied at the edge of the cover within the zone B the cover will move downwardly in the zone of pressure, and the struck-in portions II and I 2 will function as trunnions about which the cover will be tilted or rocked. Since the bead 4 is compara tivelytnarrow the left hand sid of :the cover, as

viewed in} Fig: '2, need onlyrmove upwardly through the distance X whereupon it will be entirely free from the container and pop up'into the position '2' so that it may be readily lifted 011?.

In the construction of the box the container portionis first drawn with the expanded portion 3 thereinabout the open end in the form of a open at the top, and a cover 2. Aroundthe topof the container portion and adjacent the "open end thereof it has a peripherally expanded pqrtion 3 which" projects outwardly a nd appreciable distance beyond; the peripheral- Zones ofpthe con- :tainer immediately therebelow -Wi-thin, and: outwardly projecting beyond; the aforesaid expanded peripheral portion is, a ,comparatiyely narrow peripheral bead 4, theoutward surface of which, i in cross section, may be 11am as orvrounded; as shown at ii in F1 por i tomere thhth'e fla l opj about the Zone u .fIhe cover gemrnediwitht .ametrically disposed struck- ,WhiCh are designed to res are-has; it n I z I by 'the pp reege or the {container and thus to limitlthe' distance which the. cover b P e ed as wn am y. 1' W the ,vbead A. A third struck-in: p rtion i3 which may hels la th P t n l, provided: ha wa between I I d' lZfis preferably I tper'tie'h' Ti 'j'af'nd 12 1 order to facilitate'an ever; Iseati'n'g ,ofjthe bver on the container,- Oh thel'side opposite the struck- -in portion 13 andlthr'oughout a {minor 'portion;: of its,.periphery' between the struck-in portions l l and I2 the coverfisfsubstantially cylindrical from topto bottom as shown; at .15.}1' In other words,-here', the cavern. cylindrical throughpu th @iSFWFtT- I c ne; .1

It is yery important lthatlthe'cover be so idesigned as to resist distortion "tothe highest "passible degree especially anytendency to flex or bendwhen pressure is appliedto the edge of the flat portion of the 'cover within the zone B." This resistance is partially attained by rounding the cover as shown at 8'between fthe cylindrical skirt portion-andthe flat top 9, and partially by providing the outstanding peripheral flange H6 at the bottom of the skirt, the free edge of which is rolled to provide the curlll. a

' By reference to Fig. ztl'itwiii'be noted that the cover contacts the container portiononly around the peripheral head 4 and. at the points where the struck-in portions Il,,l2gand[ l,'3 rest upon the upper rimthereof; mother words annular spaces I8 of appreciable width are Provided be- 3., This bead continuous "cylinder. Thereafter, a zone of the expanded surface is rolled out to form theperipheral bead. Since the outside diameter of the peripheralybead determines how tightlyvthe' cover willfit on :the container portion-and it i's a simple matter to "adjust the beading rollers toisrpro'diice any reasonable variation in ithe outside diameter of the bead 4; variationsin' metal .1 gauge mayibe compensated for by merely making the hec'essary adjustments to the rollers. I'Ihus', whenvaria- 'tions in metal gauge are encountered; thez r'oblem of) producing: boxes with unifor covers is greatly simplified Y 1 From the foregoing it will beapparent that- '3;

usinga bead, such as shown at tor 5-; which projects outwardly from the-expandedtop' portion' of the container, the contact with the cover may be made of any desirable wi'dth'or depth and positioned 1 anywhere within the limits or "-the expandedportion; However, =my experiments have indicated-that the bead shouldbecomparatively narrow; at least. when" a flatbead ls 'embox'isjntightly ,c pfsede ndlthilsto liin "what below the upper edge; of the" contain portion of the portion being i Q provided with-S Jan". 011

struckin portions S ratov-er; a

contactjis formed-fairly near the bottom of; the

f coverriln other words, since the ease with which -the -box may be opened depends on the distance X' this-distance is preferably kept compar f-Th' d I i "dBQidQ "fi v a li using ahead of thisl typ'e andsp'acingyitsomey this arrangement the co-ver'is very readilyfseated squarely on the contact "because the" xpanded container, above the bead, ji [only slightly smallerthan theiinside of the" covrit serves as a centering meansfor thecovef inch 1. A metal box comprisihg a round -.container jpo'rtion open at one end forming the top theiieof.

and provided a-bcmt said? end wi't'h a stiffening adjacent} andiextending lbllndlsaid open a narrow, continuous; peripheral: bead int'e diate' the top and bottom-of 'ouftwart lly end,

forfsaid container compri'singj' a ",subst tially cylindrical. "skirt; portion laterally fsuifrounding said bead land' iri"substantiallyiairtiglifigitangled? ,tial contact' therewith; ,theffbottorn of said "skirt per p ral; stiffening flange having curl; aboutlits' free redge'fidiametiic onlthenupperyed'ge ofl sai'dilco taih M w tance which said cover" can be'pr'essed down- Wardly over said peripheral bead in the zones played, and it shouldbe positioned sothat' thje loan pass downwardly thereoveri until it contacts .th beeadh V a. a no 0; jecting from. said peripheralfportion', and jajcovr cylindrical portionwill move said cover down-' wardly in the zone of pressure and effect a tilting and loosening of said cover to facilitate the removal thereof from said box.

2. A metal box comprising a round container portion open at one end forming the top thereof; the periphery of said container adjacent the open end thereof being outwardly-expanded and projecting substantially beyond the adjacent peripheral portions of said container therebelow; a comparatively narrow, continuous, peripheral bead within and outwardlyprojectingfrom said expanded portion, and a cover for said container comprising a cylindrical skirt portion extending downwardly over and around said peripheral bead 1 and forming a substantially tangential, air-tight contact therewith; said cover curving inwardly and upwardly throughout the major portion of the periphery thereof from said cylindrical skirt portion to merge witha flat top of said cover, and

being substantially cylindrical from top to bot,- tom throughout the remaining minor portion of the periphery thereof; and diametrically disposed struck-in portions in said cover symmetrically disposed with respectgto said minor peripheral portion and adapted to rest on the upper edge of said container when said box is tightly closed and thus to limit the distance which said cover can be pressed downwardly over said peripheral bead on said container in the zones thereof adjacent said struck-inportions; whereby downward pressure applied on said cover at the edge of said minor portion of the periphery thereof will move said cover downwardly in the zone of pressure and effect a tilting of said cover on said struck-in portions astrunnions to loosen and facilitate the removal of saidcover from saidcontainer.

RALPH V. BURDICK. 

